A transfer assistance device that assists the transfer of a person has been developed.
A transfer aid robot that supports a person being assisted by an upper body supporting part is disclosed in Patent Literature 1. The upper body supporting part includes an underarm supporting part that supports around the underarm to a part of the back of a person being assisted, a waist supporting part that supports the waist, and a plane that holds up the belly. As is obvious from referring to FIG. 4, FIGS. 6 to 8, FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 of Patent Literature 1, the structure that supports around the upper body of a person being assisted is disclosed in Patent Literature 1. In the paragraph 0037 of Patent Literature 1, it is described that the pressure acting on the upper body of a person being assisted is reduced by enlarging the contact area. In the paragraph 0042 of Patent Literature 1, it is described that the mechanism that supports around a person being assisted operates in a passive manner with use of the weight of the person being assisted.
A transfer assistance device that is equipped with a body supporting element is disclosed in Patent Literature 2. The body supporting element shown in FIG. 3 or the like of Patent Literature 2 is equipped with a contact pressure dispersion member that disperses the contact pressure. It is described in Patent Literature 2 that this structure allows reduction of a stress suffered by a person being assisted due to large force acting on a part of the body of the person being assisted. Further, in the paragraph 0034 of Patent Literature 2, it is described that a motor is driven so that a uniform pressure is applied to a person being assisted over a wide range, preventing the contact pressure between a contact pressure sensor and the person being assisted from being high locally.